Analysis: One thing NH delegation doesn’t have to weigh in Syria vote: politics

U.S. Rep. Dick Swett became former U.S. Rep. Dick Swett when he voted in favor of a federal assault weapons ban. U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass became former U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass because he supported the second Iraq war. In 2008, U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu became former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu after he voted for an unpopular bank bailout bill weeks before the election (though that wasn’t the only reason he lost). This spring when U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte voted against expanded gun background checks, she was hit by nearly $2 million in negative television ads and her poll numbers dipped quickly.

It seems that every vote cast on Capitol Hill has got some political angle to it. Maybe the member is ideologically predisposed to be for it against it. Maybe they don’t feel that strongly on the issue, but the president does and he is of the same or opposing party. Maybe it is a local issue that members of Congress wouldn't dare oppose, like the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

What is interesting about this upcoming war authorization vote on Syria is how unpolitical it is, especially for the New Hampshire delegation. None of the state’s two U.S. Senators or two U.S. Representatives are facing primary challenges and none of them appear to have an immediate general election problem if they vote one way or the other.

For U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and U.S. Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster there is no “right” way to vote for their party or their district. Sure, there is some political reality that the resolution is being backed by Democratic President Barack Obama, which would mean that Democrats would be inclined to support and Republicans would be inclined to oppose. But leading Republicans support the measure, including House Speaker John Boehner. Yes, Shaheen might be inclined to support Secretary of State John Kerry in backing the measure since she chaired his presidential campaign and he helped her get a job at the Harvard Kennedy School and helped her run for the Senate. Yes, Ayotte may go along with the resolution because she has gladly been taken under the wing of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who supports intervention in Syria, but this is the personal level of politics. On the 10,000 foot level, the dividing lines aren’t partisan.

Shea-Porter has announced her position to oppose the measure. On Wednesday, Shaheen voted for it. Kuster and Ayotte have issued carefully worded statements that they are still making up their minds.

In the long run this vote may matter politically. It is certainly a highly debatable topic among the group of potential candidates for president in 2016, but this is an internal party conversation. If Hillary Clinton had the ability to turn back time, no doubt she would have voted against the Iraq War resolution in 2002, which hurt her in the Democratic Primary for president six years later.

For the moment though, it is hard to see how New Hampshire’s delegation can play politics with this vote even if they wanted to. With politics removed, this vote will reveal more about these members of Congress -- how they make decisions and what drives them -- than maybe any other vote in their career.